Thornburgh to Disband Crime Strike Forces

AP

Published: December 28, 1989

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27—
Attorney General Dick Thornburgh announced today that he would proceed with plans to disband the Justice Department's organized crime strike forces despite some opposition in Congress.

Starting Monday, the 14 strike forces will be folded into 23 United States Attorney's offices across the country, the Attorney General said in a statement.

In first announcing the plan earlier this year, Mr. Thornburgh said it would end jurisdictional disputes between the strike forces and the United States Attorneys' offices.

In his statement today, he said the reorganization would help the Justice Department fight an underworld no longer run almost exclusively by the Mafia, but instead often worked in tandem with Colombian drug rings, Jamaican groups and others.

His plan, Mr. Thornburgh said, ''offers substantial managerial benefits that should no longer be postponed.''